New single, ‘Settle Down’, is the first material to emerge from a year of steady studio recording, the band fleshing out inspiration captured on cell phones during their busy lives and shared between Ottawa and Hamilton via the magic of the internet. While this might not sound the most ideal of circumstances, the reality is that such means offer a way forward for the modern musician who works full time, holding bands together through the process of Real Life. As Dark Mean describe:

“Years of struggle and extended hiatuses are nothing new for us. That’s how we’ve always operated. Incessant file sharing and e-mails, frustrating Skype calls, relentless attention to detail, and the odd show amidst chaotic life schedules, are just a few ways we’ve not only hung together, but they’ve made it possible for us to keep releasing music”.

And we’re lucky such tactics work, because ‘Settle Down’ is worth the effort. Taking some of the pace off, the song is a slow-burning folk/rock hybrid in which lush instrumentation enters in sequence, gradually building from ambience to guitar to percussion and drums, the impassioned vocals allowed to take centre stage in all their throaty glory.

“Yeah I guess we’ll see what you’re made of
Yeah I guess we’ll see, once you settle down”

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